You’ll recall not long ago that “Clerks” and “Mall Rats” director Kevin Smith suffered a heart attack that almost killed him. This relieved “Jurassic World” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” actor Chris Pratt, who gave all his love to Smith, and said he’d pray for him.

And atheists went bonkers.

Before you know it, Pratt was being inundated with hate for his offering of prayers to Smith, and encouraging his followers to do the same. That he would dare suggest prayer had any validity, according to his detractors, was dangerous and foolish.

The hate was so unbelievable that Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn had to step in and back up Pratt by telling the world how much prayer played a part in his life.

The battle raged on, but now Kevin Smith has weighed in on a Facebook Live update, and he’s taking Pratt and Gunn’s side of things according to the Daily Wire:

“Poor Chris Pratt, one of my favorite actors on the planet, f—ing put up a nice tweet, where he’s just like, ‘Hey man, I don’t know you that much but I love “Clerks” and I’m praying for you,’ and and apparently people were like, ‘F— your prayers’ and attacked him and s—,” Smith said.

“And number one, thanks to Chris Pratt, how sweet was that,” Smith continued. “Number two, please don’t fight over stuff like that. It’s a waste of time. Whether you’re religious or not, someone saying ‘I’ll pray for you,’ it’s good intentions.”

I can’t tell you how welcome this is, at least for a guy like me. All three of these men, especially Pratt, are people I respect quite a bit. I’ve been watching Smith’s movies since I was a kid, and Gunn has become one of my new favorite directors. To see these men stand up and defend prayer amidst Hollywood’s unceasingly anti-Christian atmosphere is big.

Overall, I feel like Gunn put it best in a tweet. We don’t have to agree about the effectiveness of prayer. What we should do is respect the kindness of those who offer a moment of their time to speak a thought just for you. Both atheists and Christians are generally accepting of each other’s message despite their disagreements, but the internet fosters some of the most wacky extremism.

As you’ll see, the people here are overall very kind and balanced. Aetheists and Christians are generally all great people and generally get along and respect each other’s beliefs. It’s the strengthening of the fringes on Twitter which makes it seem otherwise.

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) February 26, 2018